Since calling me to Her service as priestess on 11 January 2018, the Goddess Guan Yin has steadily acquainted me with the distinguished members of my new Spirit team, Whom I now serve and work with on a regular basis.
I never cease to be amazed by these wonderful Divinities of the Highest Light. It is an honour to serve Them. They are kind, loving, and always teaching me new things about Spirit as I learn and grow.
One thing I have learnt on my Spiritual journey is that there are many ways to access Spirit. The form is not always important – what counts is the energy, intention, and focus.
For instance, my relationship with Hayagriva is certainly unconventional to Tibetan Buddhists, who would insist that I undergo both the initiation and empowerment rituals before I am truly attuned to Hayagriva. Unfortunately, I haven’t attended those rituals due to a lack of opportunity – but to be honest, I don’t think Hayagriva cares.
I mean, look at this guy.
Is this the face of Someone who cares about such things? Or do you think He’s more interested in defending the Highest Light, whilst destroying the evil of uncontrolled ego and the darkness of ignorance?
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Hayagriva: The Holy Wrath of Guan Yin
So, Who’s Hayagriva? I’m glad you asked. He’s LIT (no, really, He’s always surrounded by holy fire).
Please CLICK HERE if you’d like a detailed Tibetan Buddhist perspective of Hayagriva.
Very briefly: in Tibetan Buddhism, Hayagriva is the heruka (wrathful manifestation) of Chenresig, Who is the Tibetan version of our Goddess of Mercy – Guan Yin. The heruka function as dharmapala (dharma protectors), safeguarding our journeys of Spiritual growth.
According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, practitioners whose yidam (principal divinity) is Chenresig will naturally have Hayagriva as their dharmapala. Hayagriva and Chenresig are the same Person, after all.
Guan Yin is my principal Goddess, but I had no idea there was literally another side to Her, or that I would have a natural bond to Hayagriva.
Until Hayagriva came calling.
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The Call
It started, of all places, on social media.
A prominent Tibetan Buddhist temple in Singapore announced on Facebook that they were conducting a Hayagriva prayer ritual, led by monks flown in from Sera Jey Monastery in Tibet (known to be the stronghold of Hayagriva, and where His presence/energy is most powerful). The level of this ritual was most secret, the highest level of Tibetan Buddhist practice. This meant that only practitioners who had undergone the initiation and empowerment rituals for Hayagriva were allowed to attend.
Yet I felt Guan Yin calling me to go.
As I stared at the crimson hues of Hayagriva’s face – His bulging eyes, slavering fangs, necklace of human heads, and overall ferocious appearance – I couldn’t understand why Guan Yin would want me to attend. After all, I reasoned, I’m not qualified. If I go and the monks there find out, I’ll be kicked out. Out of respect for the temple, I shouldn’t go.
But Guan Yin’s gentle pull on my soul only intensified. In the end, I promised Her that night: I will go if you send me a sign in 24 hours.
The Goddess heard. Next morning, I received a text from a friend who runs a social enterprise supporting animal charities. His text read:
Hey Kelly. Equal Ark running low on hay. Can u help?
I stared at the text on my phone screen, wide-eyed and smiling in wonder. Equal Ark is a charity organisation in Singapore that rescues retired racehorses, then adopts and re-trains them as therapy animals for the disabled and underprivileged.
Hayagriva is associated with the horse. He is known to the Chinese as 马头明王, the Horse-Headed King of Wisdom.
My Goddess is the best!
I made a $500 donation to the horses, and cleared my schedule to attend the Hayagriva prayer ritual.
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The Power of Mantra
I turned up at the temple early. The monks and a handful of devotees were present. No one asked me anything, so I stayed.
The most secret prayer ritual of Hayagriva began. The monks led the chant as we invoked the mighty Hayagriva through His mantra:
ཧྲཱི་བཛྲ་ཀྲོ་ངྷ་ཧ་ཡ་གྲྀ་ཝ་ཧུ་ལུ་ཧུ་ལུ་ཧཱུྃ་ཕཊ།
Hrih Benza Trodha Hayagriva
Hulu Hulu Hung Phat
Over and over, again and again, we chanted the sacred mantra and called on Hayagriva. I don’t know how many times we chanted it… we were chanting in a never-ending loop.
Mantra chanting is a meditative practice that has been scientifically proven to enhance brain states with consistent repetition. Practitioners enter a trance state where, according to spiritual tradition, access to the Divine becomes possible.
I entered a trance.
I wasn’t in the temple anymore. I was standing alone in a place where the sky met the sea in an endless Light-filled horizon. Somewhere far behind and below me, I heard the chanting continue, soft and muffled. I turned and saw myself in the distance, seated amongst the little group, eyes closed, swaying slightly.
Hrih Benza Trodha Hayagriva Hulu Hulu Hung Phat
It was bittersweet, watching myself from a faraway realm. I now knew how it felt to watch over humanity from the viewpoint of Spirit. Where I stood, all was well and at peace. Not so the humans on earth… while they chanted, I saw their hearts. One was worried for her children; another one was attending this ritual to save his ailing father; yet another was fretting over money problems. How can humanity be helped?
My reverie was broken by the unmistakable, faraway harrumph of a horse. I turned around.
From a distance, I saw Hayagriva arise over the horizon. A large, powerful stallion, the colour of blood. As He galloped towards me, I saw His three eyes, large and aflame with Divine, compassionate fury.
Then Hayagriva roared – a roar of holy wrath. I still shudder when I recall that unearthly sound. It was the anger of a stallion whose herd is being attacked by wolves. The protective rage of a mother whose child is hurt. The bloody resolve of a warrior fighting to defend his people.
Hayagriva was beautiful. Terrifying. And here to save the faithful.
As Hayagriva drew closer, the heat of His fiery aura began to envelop me. It felt like I was standing next to a campfire at night. Like wearing a warm sweater on a cold, rainy day. Despite His intimidating appearance, I felt safe and protected, knowing that Hayagriva was near.
Hayagriva galloped right past me – I felt the breeze against my skin as He passed. Then He faded away into the distance, slowly, gradually…
As the world around me began to burn.
The horizon disappeared; the sky was in flames, and the sea was now a fiery ocean. I was standing in the heart of an inferno. In the heart of Hayagriva. He was nowhere, and He was everywhere. He was all around and entirely within me. I was a spark, a flame, a witness to Hayagriva, and now a part of Him.
I was in Him, and He in me.
I stayed in that realm of fiery bliss for I don’t know how long. Eventually, however, my consciousness returned to the earthly realm as the monks blew their horns and crashed their cymbals.
The ritual ended. I left before anyone could ask me questions.
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I went home, floating on cloud nine. There is something incredibly, blissfully life-changing about a genuine encounter with Spirit. You are never the same afterwards.
My mother, herself a clairvoyant, noted that my face was glowing when she saw me the next day. “There’s a new light in you.”
I was filled with joy and gratitude for this new connection with Hayagriva, and looked forward to our work together. What I didn’t consider at the time, due to my excitement, was this Spiritual principle:
Every new cycle of life will demand a new you. Spirit evaluates how well you have integrated your past lessons by testing you. This is especially true for people whose lives are dedicated to Spiritual work, such as myself.
These tests by Spirit are designed to affirm our growth, point out areas of improvement, and guide us in the way forward. Every thing we say, think, or do during these tests will be recorded as our karma, with rewards and repayments to be given in time as the consequences of our choices unfold.
Hayagriva had already decided the format, day, and time of my test. Even my adversary had already been chosen. It would be set in a context I’d never encountered, and in a situation I couldn’t get out of easily. It was going to be interesting.
Meanwhile, I continued to study Hayagriva and meditate on His mantra – blissfully unaware that He was about to put me through a baptism of fire.
To be continued…
*This is a true story based on my Lightwork experiences. Some details have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.
